THEOLOGY AND ACADEMY

Hanif Rahmat

11611101

Faculty of Mathematics and Science, Major of Statistics, 

Universitas Islam Indonesia, Yogyakarta

THEOLOGY AND ACADEMY

(a resume and reflection of "The Routledge Companion to
the Study of Religion", topic of "Theology" by David Frank Ford)

ABSTRACT

This paper explains how to understand the theology based on the perspectives of religions and the academy in terms of some religions that have a lot of major influences on the world civilization and was instrumental in the development of theology in the world, the Christian, Islamic, Buddhist, Hindu, and Judaism. But the tendency of this paper is to understand based on the perspective of Christian theology because of the author's own background.

The problem of theology would invite controversy from various parties depending on how each culture and thought unite the theory that yielded various different conclusions.

Theology is closely related to academic and cultural issues. They is two factors that affect the existence of theology. In addition, political factors also influence the emergence of sects who claim their own theological background so that the problem started happening and started venturing into many spheres of life.

This paper tries to uncover how widespread the problem solves both the problems and the application of the concept in the real world. That different thoughts arise many questions about the solutions that should be done by academics in particular to understand the theology.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

The religious communities mentioned in the definition above all place a high priority on learning and teaching. An immense amount of time and energy is spent on such activities as the study and interpretation of key texts, and instruction in tradition, prayer and ethics. Much learning happens through imitation, and the adoption of habits of thought, imagination, feeling and activity, which are assimilated through participation in a community’s life. Such learning and teaching have been important in helping those traditions survive and develop over many generations (Hinnels, 2005: 62). So, the problem statements is what the conceptual framework of the author and how he solve the problem of theology based on the academy and religions.

THE BASIC CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

The paper of David Frank Ford broadly defined theology as thinking about questions raised by and about the religion. It then went on to describe the modern world in terms of multiple overwhelmings, with religions as both agents of overwhelming and shapers of life within them, and theology pursuing its questions in that context. He also described briefly some of the overwhelmings in the sphere of education and research, where specifically academic theology is located, and he suggested that the phenomenon labelled ‘posmodernity’ is in some ways helpful to theology.

In this paper, there are three point that discussed with fuller treatment of academic theology :

First, theology in the academy is located at a convergence of what have been described above as overwhelmings. The religion are fundamentally about being overwhelmed and are also undergoing massive trasformations; the academy is deeply involved in modernity. Both in shaping it and studyin, and has itself been undergoin major changes; and the multipliation of disciplices and explosion of knowledge make a specially strong impact on a subject which draws on a great many disciplines.

Second, theology in some academic settings is in a particularly sensitive situation. He refers to those institutions which are not run by a church or other religious community but teach theology.

Third, there is an issue which presses further the discussion of modernity begun above and deserves a brief concluding section to itself (Ford, 1999: 11-12).

THE STEPS, THE PROCEDURES, AND THE APPLIED EXAMPLES

Philosophy, theology, and other areas of thought have contributed to a mood of radical suspicion dericted at anyway of making overall sense of life. They have especially foccused on key ‘integrators’ of human existence.

For example, one way in which we try to make sense of life is to see ourselves as part of some overarching history or drama. This might be the story of our family, of our nation, of God’s involvement eith the world, of human progress, of a revolutionary movement, or even of a television ‘soap’ drama.

A second example of an integrator under attack is the idea of human self. This can be seen as a bundle of conditionings, drives ,and attractions which modern conditions is fragmanted or even shattered. There is no centre of a person’s identity; many pressures overwhelm us from outside us and from parts of ourselves (especially the subconsocious or unconsocious); and in the midst of all this we are continually trying to invent and reinvent who we are fairly arbitrary ways.

A third example is the loss of confidence in reason or rationality. It is seen as an exercise on domination. ‘Knowledge is power’, and is used to manipulate people. So there is deep suspicion of rational argument and debate because they are seen as instruments of coecion by powerful groups who use them for their owh ends. These try to contro education, the directions of research, communications, who is consired knowledgeable and authoritative, and what is regarded as conceivable or true. Specially intensive attention has been paid to language: does it really refer to reality, or is it a theoritic in the service of power and control? Without some trust in language’s aility to identify reality and create a trustworthy shared world of meaning, reasoning is impossible (Ford, 1999: 12-13).

CONCLUTION

Academic theology is distinguished from theology in general mainly by its relation to the various disciplines of the academy (Hinnels, 2005: 62).

In this paper, the author suggested that theology deals with questions of meaning, truth, beauty, and practice raised in relation to religions and pursued through a range of academic disciplines. That is still very broad because it is intended to embrace theology in different types of institution. This matter of the different settings in which theology is studied is important and controversial, and it needs to be faced now (Ford, 1999: 16).

REFLECTION

This paper offers a concise and original introduction to the whole of the theological discipline. Writing with a focus on Christianity, David Ford provides a trenchant and balanced discussion of the study of faith and religion. He describes the development of the field of theology, and explores such issues as knowledge, community, worship, salvation, God, prayer, and evil. Ford also weaves the idea of the quest for wisdom into the entire fabric of his discussion, and concludes with a look ahead to the theology of the next century. 

REFERENCES

Ford, David Frank. 1999. Theology: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press.

Hinnels, John R. 2005. The Routledge Companion to the Study of Religion. New York: Rouletge.

Thanks for reading THEOLOGY AND ACADEMY